Texas Heat!

[Alan L.]

We got an inch of rain last night and pretty high winds. Blew my heavy fish feeder over. Mrs. Alan L. said some shingles blew off the house, but it turns out they were from a stack we had on our "extra" brick pile. So it appears no damage was done. I asked her if she thought those brick blew off the house too.

I planted my cowpeas Saturday so they will hopefully get some good out of that inch. Good thing, I almost had a heat stroke getting them in.

 

[LarryD]

I guess it was the winter of 1979-80 that Dallas had an ice storm that was really tough. We we lucky in that our power never went off and we had natural gas, too. But a lot of folks in Dallas, including my boss, were without power for 4 days.

I remember a really bad ice strom about that time Bird. I had an apartment in North Dallas at the bottom of a pretty good draw, up hill both ways to anywhere. I walked to the street before leaving for work and saw cars littering the road both ways out. I just called in and said I wouldn't be making it to work that day.

Not to hijack this thread, but there was a snow storm around 76-77 that dumped 11" of snow on Dallas. I worked for a guy that was an avid snow skier with extra boot and skis. We went to Flag Pole Hill at White Rock Lake and skied all day. Lots of work (no ski lift ) but I'll bet not to many people can say they've skied Dallas.

 

[Western]

Wow, looking at the radar , allot of Texans getting some rain. Hopefully they will fair as good as we did with mostly water.

The storms tonight where a sight to see, the lightning was incredible, the most intense I have ever seen, but we only got about 1/4" or less. Most of the bigger stuff is moving South of us this round.

Our power flickered during each storm, but fortunately it never went out.

 

[Bird]

I woke up once last night before midnight and saw the lightning. My wife tells me we had wind and hail again with the rain, and this morning I had about .67" of rain in the gauge.

 

[Bird]

Not to hijack this thread, but there was a snow storm around 76-77 that dumped 11" of snow on Dallas. I worked for a guy that was an avid snow skier with extra boot and skis. We went to Flag Pole Hill at White Rock Lake and skied all day. Lots of work (no ski lift ) but I'll bet not to many people can say they've skied Dallas.

I wonder how many even know where Flag Pole Hill is.:laughing: I was promoted to Lieutenant in January, 1970, and was a watch commander in the northeast division at the station just north of Flag Pole Hill. And I guess you know that little 1,000 to 1,200 acre lake was built a hundred years ago when they thought it would provide all the water the City of Dallas needed for a hundred years.:laughing:

 

[jinman]

We went to Flag Pole Hill at White Rock Lake and skied all day. Lots of work (no ski lift ) but I'll bet not to many people can say they've skied Dallas.

You can bet that if somebody is talking about skiing in Dallas, it's probably water skiing they are talking about.

Last night's storm went just south of us. That's okay because we needed a little drying/soaking time. My pond I cleaned the silt out of is very good at holding water. It is full and overflowing just a tiny bit from the 3-1/2" we got on Monday night. I have my core trench opened up on my new pond I am building, and it got a good soaking as well as all my clay piles for filling it back up. This rain has made my life much easier for working more on my ponds.

AlanL: You asked about my catfish and spawning. My pond is about 1/2 ac that has catfish spawning. Every year in the shallows, I see little schools of catfish minnows, so I know they are spawning. I also see gray and white herons patrolling the shallows and we have lots of turtles. Between those predators, not many of the little ones survive. When I go to feed catfish, I always look for little ones to tell me that a few have made it. I put a lot of big rocks in one area of the pond, so I'm sure the little catfish survive because they can find a place to hide.

 

[NativeSon]

We got 3/8 of a inch last night about 1am, making a total of 1 1/2 in. total for the 2 days. Lot's of lightning. Possibly more this evening.

Charlie

 

[Western]

Jim,

I had an old buddy, that used to wire 2 pallets together with a couple of blocks to hold them down, he would put them in his pond for the catfish fry to hide in (2-4' off the bank). He kept a rope staked at the edge so he could pull them out each fall.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

We finally got about 2". They say more might come later today and tomorrow. I'm praying that it does.

 

[Bartcephus]

RAIN.....

Finally got some much needed rain!!!!

But with it came wind. Apparently a lot of it too. Blew all my corn to about a 45 degree slant.

I think I will forget about the complaining.

Bart

 

[Western]

RAIN.....

Finally got some much needed rain!!!!

But with it came wind. Apparently a lot of it too. Blew all my corn to about a 45 degree slant.

I think I will forget about the complaining.

Bart

That happened to me one year too, I had planted on soft raised soil and one good windy storm blew it like a West Texas dust storm. At least the cobs will be easy to reach coon's will be happy:laughing:

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

It rained. Oh my gosh IT RAINED!. I DON'T KNOW YET WHAT WE GOT BUT IT DID OFF AND ON FROM 5AM THIS MORNING.

Looks like we got around 1.5 inches, Yah!

But now it looks like the 50% chance of more is gone, to bad, we are only about 17 inches short.

 

[jinman]

Boy-oh-boy! We are a happy little bunch aren't we? A little rain sure can change your attitude.

I went to the garden this morning and picked a few cucumbers and sprayed insecticide so the squash bugs won't come back. I think we have the healthiest cucumber plants I have ever seen. They are so thick you have to move every leaf to search for fruit. Each plant is about 6' diameter, green, and starting to produce like crazy.:thumbsup: I'm finally picking a few tomatoes too. They will be going like gangbusters in another week or so. After the rain, they may be cracked. We'll see, because they are still pretty green. I looked up a pickled banana pepper ring recipe last night. I'm gonna be busy pickling peppers because my plants are loaded and I can't eat and give away all of them.

 

[markrahn]

Whooohoooo an inch and a half of rain for us. soaked right in. on the way to work this AM had to keep the wipers on for the fogged windows. Pretty humid. Buuuutttt. Now we are back to the hot/dry pattern for a while it looks like.

The garden has needed the water. What makes watermelons crack?

BTW. anyone know what this bug is?

 

[Bird]

You're sure right about the humidity. I mowed, edged, and trimmed yards this morning and I wear safety glasses when using the string trimmer and today they just kept fogging up making it hard to see what I was doing.

 

[mikim]

got 2.25" here yesterday...a good start....wish we could get somore .... betting it's still gonna be a long hot summer.

 

[Bartcephus]

BTW. anyone know what this bug is?

UGLY! :laughing: I wish I knew... I got 'em too. ANYBODY?

When you ask about the watermelons cracking, is that after a rain or just cracking while growing? I have had some crack in the past because they were traumatized by deer or other wildlife. I swear I think coyotes eat them too. Could just be coons though. Coons have a sense that lets them know when you are about to go to the garden to harvest. Some people say that coons know when the fruits are ripe, but I've seen stuff rot on the vine until the day I decide I can get in there and harvest.... then the coons wipe it all out the night before.

The humidity is definitely up there now. Need a lot more rain. An inch or so every other day wouldn't hurt for awhile... is that too much to ask for? In a month, we might be up to normal. Seems like the well at my lease garden is out of water. This is the earliest I have seen such dry conditions. Usually doesn't hit till August/September with the brutal heat. Turns the sandy soil to dust and the clay to rock solid concrete.

Did harvest some potatoes... sure wish my green beans had grown. One of my favorite garden dishes is a mess of green beans with new potatoes properly enhanced with a little onion, butter and salt. Numm Numm :licking: The rain sure made the digging easier, or was that because I accidentally let the water run overnight. (Really the spousal unit had done that.) Can't wait to see that water bill. That is a time I wish I was on well water at the house. The electricity to pump it is a lot less than the water co's bill.

Regards,
Bart

 

[Bird]

I swear I think coyotes eat them too.

Bart, when I was a teenager in Marlow, OK, I guess stealing watermelons from farmers was still popular, although I never knew anyone who did because we could buy watermelons at two for a quarter. But I still remember the newspaper publishing a story telling people first to NOT steal watermelons from the field because it was illegal, but secondly if you do, be sure you take one that is still attached to the vine. They claimed that watermelon farmers would pull melons off the vine and inject them with poison for the coyotes.

 

[Bartcephus]

inject them with poison for the coyotes.

Well that certainly explains the tracks in the watermelon patches....

This year I don't have watermelons yet. But I might try the same trick. Wonder what they injected them with? Anti-freeze? (ethylene glycol?)

Thanks for the post Bird!

 

[Bird]

Best I can remember the newspaper just said they were injected with "poison"; don't believe they even said what kind of poison.